Frequently Asked Questions

What do you use to remove a tattoo? Our Q-switched Nd:YAG laser is highly effective at removing a wide range of coloured ink with only minimal side effects. This laser is the cutting edge of technology for the removal of dermal pigmentation (i.e. tattoo ink) and is the latest in a string of medical lasers designed to remove unwanted tattoos. Unlike the cheaper lasers used by some untrained, uninsured tattoo shops.

How exactly does the laser break up the tattoo ink? Two key processes break up the ink - the pigment in your tattoo will absorb the energy from the laser and break apart; also, the incredibly fast pulse (6 billionths of a second!) and energy of the laser will cause the ink to shatter like a sugar cube breaking apart. Some colours (light blue, light green, and teal/turquoise) are difficult to remove completely and patients should expect that no more than 70-80% of this ink can be removed unless the tattoo is very old (20 years or more).

How does the body remove the shattered ink? Once the ink is broken down by the tattoo removal laser, the body will respond by moving fluid to the area to help flush away the ink. This immune-response will be obvious to the patient in the form of some swelling and redness in the area. Over the next days and weeks the ink will be flushed away. This doesn't happen overnight. Removing a tattoo takes a number of sessions.

Why do I need multiple sessions? All tattoo's layers of ink, stacked on top of each other and a thick concentration of pigment particles that cannot be completely broken down in one session. At Derby Tattoo Removal, we'll go over your entire tattoo with the laser, breaking up as much ink as possible in every session. Each session will produce some level of fading, although for very new tattoos the fading may not be as visible because the ink is still so thick and dense. If your tattoo has shading, it will be removed with some degree of ease because shading is just a tattoo without much ink density. It may only take a few sessions to remove this shading.

What is the cost of every session? The cost of each session depends on the size of the tattoo or tattoos being removed, with sessions as low as £30 per session. We'll price each session during the free consultation but you can see the approx price on our price page. We'll categorise your tattoo into different sizes for the purpose of pricing, and give discounts for multiple tattoos removed at the same time. A large tattoo is normally given a custom price per session, and we are competitive in our pricing and superior in our service. We will normally need to see you between 4-6 weeks so its not a large payment regardless as it will only be once a month. We can also offer a payment plan to help.
Many clients are also choosing to make one payment and are able to keep coming into us until they are happy to stop with no extra cost regardless of the number of sessions required. This is particularly good for coloured tattoo's and also asian or afro-caribbean clients as we may need more sessions.

How many sessions will I need to remove my tattoo? The number of sessions needed to remove a tattoo depends on five factors: the age of the tattoo, the colour of the ink, and the density of the ink, the make up of the ink and finally how good your immune system is as this is how the ink is removed (fully explained during the consultation).

Certain colours are more easily removed than others. Black and red tattoos are the easiest to remove. Orange, yellow, pink, purple, brown, and other shades are slightly more difficult to remove. The most difficult colours to remove are light green, light blue, and teal/turquoise. During the free consultation we'll discuss the number of treatments you'll need to remove certain colours, but expect that you'll need a few more if you have a difficult colour, but the most difficult colours may not be able to be faded down completely.

Yes you can, however there are more risks. Many Afro-Caribbean people can get keloid scarring so we are very careful by always conducting a patch test first. With darker skin it can also be prone to Hypo-pigmentation (skin lightening) the result of this is the tattoo area becomes lighter than the surrounding skin. We are extremely careful to avoid this, if it should happen then in almost all cases in a few months it will return back to normal. To avoid this we take a far more cautious approach starting with lower power. This does normally mean that more sessions will be required. We have had many Asian and Afro-Caribbean clients who have been very happy with the results with no scarring or skin damage whatsoever.
We do recommend for both Asian and Afro-Caribbean clients to buy the "one payment until all the ink is gone" plan. That way even though there will be more sessions the client will not have to pay for the extra.

Will the laser procedure scar my skin? No. This is a question that many new patients ask about, and we understand their concerns. Modern tattoo removal lasers (Q-switched Nd:YAG) will not scar the skin for two reasons. First, the laser doesn't go deep enough in the skin to cause a scarring response. Second, the pulse from the laser is so fast that only the tattoo pigmentation is affected and surrounding cells and tissue are left undamaged. Scarring was an issue 10 or 15 years ago when the equipment used for tattoo removal was rather primitive. There is no need to be concerned about scarring unless you have a history of keloid scarring, which our provider will discuss with you. We do use the best system available and have NEVER scarred a client.

Almost every patient we treat compares the pain from the procedure with that of getting the tattoo applied or less. A key difference is that laser tattoo removal is much quicker - most treatments take between 5 and 30 minutes, with the average being around 10-15 minutes. Patients compare the discomfort with that of a rubber band snapping against their skin. A numbing gel can be used to help reduce any discomfort.

Most patients experience some redness, swelling, and minor blistering of the skin after a laser treatment. These side effects are temporary and your skin will heal back completely. We provide our patients detailed after-care instructions to help them manage their skin after the treatment.

Dermabrasion, which removes the top layer of your skin using abrasive friction.Surgery, a surgeon will cut out the tattoo and stitch the remaining skin together or use a graft. This will leave scarring. There are a number of do-it-yourself creams. Creams DO NOT work. We've seen little to no evidence that magic creams help faded tattoos. At best, they fade the skin on and around the tattoo, which makes the tattoo look a bit lighter. Looking at the ingredients and components of such products makes one wonder how they would purportedly remove tattoo ink. No medical professionals that we've ever spoken to has expressed anything different from our view - these creams are a gimmick, and a waste of time and money.There is another system that injects cream into the tattoo using a system similar to a tattoo machine. This system is incredibly painful, has very long recovery time between sessions so takes a long time and finally leaves SCARRING on a very high number of people. We have many clients who have come to us after this procedure with terrible scarring.